An Interesting Beginning
by J.L. Hastings
Summary: A Legolas meets Aragorn story. Legolas hates humans. He has since they killed his mother, but when he meets a young Estel in danger, will he hasten to the rescue? And if so, will the two become friends? R&R please!
1. Chapter One: Hope

**Disclaimer: I own none of the recognizeable people or places. The subjects of this story belong to the genius Professor Tolkien and New Line Cinema. I am making no money at all from writing this story.**

**A/N:** **This is my first Lord of The Rings story, though it's my second on I hope you enjoy it! **

**_An Interesting Beginning_**

_**Chapter One: Hope**_

Estel Elrondion, Human foster son of Lord Elrond himself, sat upon the bed in his chambers, staring out into the gardens of The Last Homely House.

He had lived here pretty much his entire life, Ever since he was two in fact. Now he was eleven years old. A man in his oppinion.

Both Gilraen the Fair, his mother, And Arathorn II, his father, had been killed by orcs and he had been found by Elladan and Elrohir, Lord Elrond's twin sons who just so happened to be quite the pranksters.

Estel was a prankster himself, He and his foster brothers were often in wars to see who would come out to be the better prankster and everyone in Imladris would agree that they were all equally good pranksters. Now that people thought about it, It seemed that Estel was better since he was only a child and the twins were over two millinia his senior. They had had plenty of time to practice and yet this boy was on the same level as they were, within only eleven years.

As it were, Estel was now thinking of the perfect prank to avenge himself. They had snuck in and painted a horrible face over his own as he had slept and the ink they had used would last for many days. He had to gain his revenge.

Suddenly, It came to him. He could use the special dye his father had taught him how to concoct. Of course, Elrond hadn't intended it to be used on hair, he had told Estel to use it on clothes only, for it would be extremely hard to wash from hair and that, was exactly why Estel planned on using it.

It would be the perfect plan. He had already perfected the art of sneaking around as quietly as an elf and he would dye their hair without being noticed. He didn't even want to think of what their own vengence would be after that, but that was hardly Estel's concern at the moment. He had things to do.

Estel slipped out of his room and headed for the pantry where his father kept Clothing and Home repair things. He knew that was where he kept the items necessary. He found them all quickly, since he was a very good learner and had planned on using this exact concotion as a prank eventually. He had even practiced secretly on how to make better colors than the ones Elrond had taught him. He knew all the perfect herbs that would make it all the better. Bright Robin's Eggs Blue, Bright Sun-set Pink, Brilliant purples, he had the perfect colors for his brothers.

As he began walking away, a shadow suddenly stepped in front of him and he looked up to see his father gazing sternly down at him.

Estel smiled sheepishly. "Uh..Hello Ada..." he said. "Hello Estel. May I ask what you are doing with those ingrediants for Clothing Dye?"

"Of course..Um..My shirt is getting kind of faded and I was just thinking of making it brighter with your dye. " He said smiling innocently.

A little too innocently in Lord Elrond's oppinion. But he didn't want to ask. He already had an idea of what his son was going to do, What harm could it bring? He would let it slide this once.

"I see. Well, Then carry on, ion-nin. I see you have just needs." he said, a bit of a twinkle in his blue eyes as his son smiled and walked past him, breathing a sigh of relief that was not lost on the elf lord.

"You do know what he is going to do with that dye, don't you, My Lord?" Glorfindel said suddenly out of nowhere, also carrying a bright twinkle in his eyes.

Elrond turned and folded his arms "Of course. Do you honestly think I am that simple, My dear Lord Glorfindel?" Elrond said, acting stern.

Glorfindel saw it for the act it was and laughed a bit before replying "Of course you are not simple, my lord. How could I ever think such a thing? In any case, Are you truly going to let him get away with what you sternly told him not to do?"

Lord Elrond chuckled a bit "What harm could it bring? Estel deserves his revenge, wouldn't you agree?"

"Aye. Tis true. He does deserve his revenge, but I daresay the twins won't be happy about it at all." Glorfindel said.

"About what?" suddenly came a voice from just down the hall, which started the two elf lords. It was Elladan who had spoken and he had his arms folded across his chest.

"Yes, Lord Glorfindel. What will we not be happy about?" Elrohir said, also having his arms crossed.

Glorfindel chuckled as he moved past the twins "Nothing, my lords, Nothing at all." he said before disappearing around a corner. The twins turned to their Father.

"What was he talking about, Ada?" Elladan said suspiciously.

"Well, I could tell you, my sons. But then I would have to kill you." he said, seemingly seriously as he walked away, but if one looked close enough they could see he jested by the way his eyes sparkled Mirthfuly.

Elladan turned to Elrohir "What do you think it is?" he asked his twin conspirationally as they began moving towards their bedchambers.

"I know not, Dan, But I would remain alert tonight if I were you. I smell trouble." Elrohir replied and Elladan nodded before the two closed their door.

Estel snickered quietly from behind the door of his own room. He had already begun creating the dye. He would have to go and get the right coloring plants before it would be complete, but that could wait. He had to create the base first.

He poured chemicals in the mixing bowl expertly measuring things with little to no difficulty. Anyone who saw him would think he had been mixing this stuff every day of his life.

Finally a thick dark blue liquid was in the bowl. He only needed to pick the other herbs. He hid the chemicals under bedsheets before going out to his balcony and climbing down a vine that was situated conveniently right next to the railing. He hopped over it and climbed down fast and dropped to the ground softly and snuck off towards the woods.

It wasn't too hard to find that which he seeked. He had, afterall, practiced for ages for this one prank.

The herb he picked now would make the dye turn that shade of Robin's eggs blue which had been his favorite. Also, he found some herbs that would create a dye of a rich and rather bright green, The green would be a bit more complicated than the blue, but Estel knew what was necessary.

Having picked the proper colors, he placed them in two seperate packs and then began climbing back up his vine. It was a bit harder than climbing down, but he could manage.

Upon making it to the top he felt a triumphant grin crawl upon his face. He'd like to see any other human try to do that.

He jumped over the railing of his balcony and pulled the bedsheets from his mixtures. He then pulled his shoulder length, thick, dark brown hair into a bun to keep it out of his way.

He took out the robin's egg blue herbs and began putting them in the concoction. He had been thinking about which twin should get which color and he had finally decided that he would give Elladan the blue and Elrohir the green. It seemed to fit their personalities much better.

After mixing the concoction, it turned red. He knew that once he actually let it sit for a few hours, It would change to the color he wanted. He set the first bowl out on the balcony for it to sit and turned his attention to the second.

He placed the right herbs in it and heated it very precisely, or else it wouldn't be the right color. He also had to mix it a certain amount of times in a certain direction, finally it was a black color. It would lighten up once it cooled.

He placed it next to the first and then closed the doors that led to the balcony and drew the curtains closed. It was getting rather late and he knew that dinner would be ready any minute now. As if on que, the bell rang.

It was then that he realized he was extremely hungry. He hadn't eaten lunch because he had been out climbing trees. That was a favorite past time of his. He especially liked the trees that were rather far from hsi home, for it gave him the solitude he enjoyed at times. That was why he hadn't heard the lunch bell.

He raced down the stairs and came to a stop at the foot of the stairs, because he had nearly run smack into Saeron, one of the warriors in the service of Elrond. "My apologies, Sir Saeron, for I did not see you there." Estel apologized.

Saeron, who had looked about to strike whoever had run into him, suddenly smiled upon seeing who it was. "My apologies as well, Estel. I was not paying attention to where I was going. You are far too small, you know." Saeron replied.

Estel smiled and said "Tis true, Unfortunately I am rather small. I was just off to the dining room, Where were you headed?"

"I was going to Lord Elrond's study. I have something I needed to give him." he said.

"What do you need to give him?" Estel asked curiously. "A reply to the letter he had written to King Thranduil. It seems we are going to have a visitor soon. The twins will be glad to hear of who it is." Saeron said with a smile.

"Who is going to visit?" Estel said with a bright smile. Now he wouldn't only embarass the twins in front of Rivendell, But he would be able to embarass them in front of a visitor whom they obviously liked very much.

"The Prince of Mirkwood, Legolas. He hasn't visited in over five centuries, the twins will be very happy indeed." Saeron told him. This just kept getting better and better! Estel hadn't been happier in his life. He would be able to embarass the twins in front of not only a friend, but a PRINCE!

"Thank you for that information, Saeron. I'll get out of your way now, so you may deliver the message, though I expect you won't have to go all the way to Ada's study since he will be down momentarily." Estel said.

"Indeed. I am right behind you Estel." Elrond said from the top of the stairs. Estel nodded and smiled before rushing off to complete his journey to the dining room so he could fill his stomach.

After dinner, everyone had assembled in the Hall of Fire for performances as usual. Estel lounged on a couch comfortably, with the twins sitting on the floor resting their backs against the one where Estel was currently positioned.

"I heard some excellent news!" Estel said happily eating from a bowl of grapes that sat next to him.

"Really? What is it?" Elrohir asked, stealing one of Estel's grapes for himself and tossing one back where Elladan caught it in his mouth.

"Your old friend, Prince Legolas, is going to visit. The one I hear hasn't visited in five centuries." Estel said, catching another grape as Elrohir tossed it at Elladan and eating it himself.

Elrohir immediately perked up, as did Elladan. "Are you serious, Estel?" Elladan asked excitedly.

Estel nodded "I heard it from Saeron. He was carrying a message to Ada when we bumped into each other."

"That is joyous news indeed! I was wondering when He'd visit! I have been hoping it would be this century, since you have yet to meet each other. I think you would get along great." Elrohir said.

"That's nice. I would very much like to meet him, if he brings this much happiness when he visits then apparently he is a very interesting elf." Estel said, eating another grape.

Just then, a performer not far from the three began The Lay of Luthien, Estel's favorite song and he immediately rushed over and began listening intently. No matter how much he heard this particular piece, it never got old. There was just something about it that made him drop everything he was doing just to listen.

'Finally.' Estel thought as he watched the twins clamber off to their chambers to get some rest. He followed and entered his bed chambers and then he opened the doors to his balcony and grabbed the two dyes.

He mixed them one more time before setting them on the table and looking for the proper thing to pour the dye into the twins' hair. He soon found two things that would work perfectly and began to put the dyes into the icing tubes. He put them away in his pack and then snuck out.

He sat outside the door to the twins' chambers for while before hearing their soft voices quieting down. It seemed they had already thought something was going to happen tonight and had intended to remain alert late into the night, but after many hours going without anything, they had fallen into a deep elven slumber.

This worked to Estel's advantage. Since the twins had stayed up very late, they were more tired than usual and their slumber was a lot deeper. He pushed open the door quietly and walked over to Elladan.

He looked at the elf to make sure that his eyes were glassed over in elven slumber before applying the dye and rubbing it into the eldest twin's hair. Pretty soon, Elladan's hair was the Robin's Eggs Blue.

Estel then walked over to Elrohir and did likewise only with the green dye. After a few moments, Ro's hair was the brightest and most glorified shade of green known to all.

Estel admired his work for a bit, placing his fists on his hips and smirking slightly before he grabbed his things and stole out of their balcony door, which they usually kept open to let in the nice summer breeze.

It wasn't hard to jump the distance between the two balconies, and soon he was pushing open his own balcony doors and shutting them behind him and turned to come face to face with his Ada.

Estel nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned. He hadn't expected Lord Elrond to come in. Elrond looked rather amused that he had scared the human the way he did. "Hello Estel." he said with a slight smile.

Estel had a hand over his heart to still the beat and looked up at his foster father. "Sweet Eru, You scared the life out of my, Ada."

"I can see that. What were you doing in the twins' bedchamber?" he asked Estel. Estel began wracking his brain for adequate reasons for him sneaking to his brothers' room. "Well, Uh...Ada, You see..." he began before Elrond lifted his hand.

"Nay, You need not tell me. I already know." Elrond said.

Estel looked up sharply, his eyes clearly showed surprise "Oh, Ada! Please don't punish me! It was in revenge! I found a way to rinse it out, Just don't get rid of me. I don't want to be kicked out! As a matter of fact, I'll go and fix it right now if I must!" Estel said. He had always feared that his foster father would get rid of him if he did too much trouble and he feared he had stepped over the line.

Elrond chuckled at this "Calm down, Estel. I have no intention of punishing you, or ever getting rid of you! I love you too much. I came only to talk to you about our visitor, The Prince of Mirkwood."

Estel was relieved "Oh..Phew..I was scared for a minute there. What about Prince Legolas?" he asked his Ada.

"I wanted to warn you. He isn't very..comfortable..with men, you see. He has had bad experiences with them and doesn't trust them. I want you to be on your best behaviour when he arrives. Is that understood?" Elrond said.

Estel nodded "Yes. I understand, Ada. I wouldn't want our guests to feel threatened by me." he said.

"Good..Now get to bed. Tis rather late." Elrond said and Estel complied, quickly jumping into his rather large and comfortable feather bed "Good night, Ada."

"Good night Estel." Elrond said as he kissed his foster son's brow and pulled the covers up to his chin. With that, The Lord of Imladris left the room and Estel settled comfortably into the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.

**A/N:** **Well, that's the first chapter. Please tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter Two: Lost

**A/N: Here's the second chapter of my story! It's a bit shorter than the first one, but it's all good!**

**Disclaimer: See the first chapter for Disclaimer, please! **

_**Chapter Two: Lost**_

The next morning, Estel awoke to the shouts of his brothers. Knowing when he should hide, he hopped up out of bed and dressed as quickly as possible. He knew that the twins would seek rather violent means of revenge at first, as they were wont to do when the prank was a major one and it was quite a major one.

Estel jumped out onto the balcony nearly the same second his brothers crashed through his door and he slipped down the vine and into the woods as quickly as possible. He went a bit farther than intended though.

He crashed through the woods laughing the entire way, passing underneath branches as he ran merrily through the woods. He hadn't noticed just how far he had gone. He had been far too content in running, rather than where he was running to. He stopped then to see where he was at. Suddenly a shocking revealation came to him: He was lost.

He had never been in a place such as this. Everything looked the same and he wasn't even sure which way he had gone anymore. He had twisted and turned several times in an attempt to lose his brotehrs who up to now could be heard crashing after him. Now, it was just silent.

He decided he would just have to choose a direction and travel it in hopes of finding somewhere he recognized. He chose right and began walking, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.

He had been walking for hours and he had yet to find anything he recognized. He was getting scared and it was getting late. He hadn't had anything to eat all day and he was starving.

Why had he so recklessly plowed into the woods? How could he have been so stupid? He didnt' even have a cloak with him, not that it was necessary. It was, after all, the middle of summer.

He suddenly felt weak and tired and sad. He had run away from the twins and now he was lost and he just knew he would die here. He had no food, no water, no nothing. He had to find somewhere to go. He curled up on the foilage and fell into a restless slumber, praying to any God that would listen to deliver him to salvation.

Where had Estel gone? Elladan and Elrohir had been searching for a while now. When they were chasing him earlier they were tracking him by his laughter, when the laughing had stopped they were lost.

The boy was as light footed as an elf, and so he was near impossible to track when he didn't want to be found.

Why had they let him get away so easily? Next time, they wouldn't go so easy on him. They couldn't afford to lose him like this. Estel was merely a child, he had no way of surviving in the wild. And especially since he had no food and drink. The boy was probably lost and scared and they were here, with Blue and Green hair trying to track someone who was near impossible to find.

They were very far from Rivendell, as a matter of fact, they had come rather close to the Misty Mountains. This was surprising. They hadn't thought they could cover so much ground in such a short time. What if Estel had somehow ventured into the mountain pass? He would surely be killed by Goblins!

The worry just mounted as they searched frantically for their lost sibling.

Morning came slowly for the restless child on the ground, when the dawn finally broke the boy stood up and began continuing on.

After hours of walking, he saw that he had somehow managed to come to the Mountain Pass. How had he gone so far? He knew this wasn't good. But curiosity was gnawing at him. He had dreamed of going into the mountain pass since he was very young and had heard the tales of his brothers who had gotten into tons of trouble here.

He had always dreamed of going Goblin hunting and becoming a great warrior. But all he had with him right now was a small hunting knfie, which he carried with him at all times just so he could feel like a grown man.

He knew now how much of a fool he was. He had managed to get himself lost, he had been a fool to ever think he was grown up.He felt anything but strong at the moment, but the prospect of visiting the Mountains was astounding. Surely, Goblins won't come out and attack some stupid kid? He was hardly worth their time. He decided he might as well attempt the adventure. He would starve and die anyway, why not at least get one dream accomplished before his rather early demise?

With that thought he ventured into the Mountain Pass, thinking of all the adventures he would have while he was here.

Legolas, Son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood mounted his chestnut colored mare, Lathril. He had gotten said horse recently for his twentieth Yen, Which meant he was two thousand eight hundred and eighty mortal years of age.

He didn't go by the mortal way of reckoning. He hated mortals. They had taken away his mother, the one person he loved more than anyone else. He had been unable to forgive the humans who killed his mother and nearly killed him, and he placed all humans in with them.

Today he was going to ride out to Imladris. He hadn't visited for five centuries, and he sorely missed the twins and their pranks. He had been unable to visit much recently because of his royal duties. It was about time he got to visit his old friends.

"Prince Legolas!" he heard a familiar voice call from behind him and turned to face an elf with long red hair and bright green eyes. His friend, Geliron.

"Hello, Mellon-nin. What is it you seek of me?" Legolas asked his friend.

"I just wanted to see you off is all. I also wanted to give you a few extra provisions. Knowing you, You'll need them." Geliron said, grinning a bit as he handed the prince some bandages and herbs.

"How thoughtful of you, Though I feel that you are trying to tell me something. Could it possibly be that you are telling me that I get into too much trouble, mellon-nin?" Legolas asked mirthfuly.

"Of course not. Why would I imply such a thing? Besides, I am sure you are fully aware of the fact that you get into too much trouble." His friend said.

Legolas sighed mellowdramatically before replying "Aye! I fear tis true, I seem to attract trouble wherever I go. Perhaps it is my dashing good looks?"

Geliron laughed "What dashing good looks do you speak of? I'll have you know that you have no such thing as good looks. You rather resemble an orc, if ever I saw one."

Legolas feigned hurt "How could you say such a thing? I am devilishly handsome! Much better than an orc, in my oppinion." Legolas said.

"I guess you are right. You are a bit better looking than an orc, but not much." Geliron said with a light laugh which Legolas mimicked "Very well, mellon-nin. Have it your way. I really must be on my way though."

"Very well, Your highness. Carry on." Geliron said as he stepped back from Legolas's horse.

Soon after that, Legolas galloped away merrily heading towards the Misty Mountains.

Estel looked around. This place was actually rather interesting to see. There were many rockfaces and small snow drifts along a bit of a path, which Estel now followed.

Only moments before he had found a bush that had many delicious looking red berries and his stomach had been craving food. He didn't know if they were poison or not but he had been starving and couldn't help himself.

Perhaps he had a bit of a chance to survive after all. He had also found a swift mountain spring which he had drunk from and now he was properly refreshed, though he had to admit he would much prefer being back at home eating a nice large dinner rather than berries.

He sighed. These thoughts weren't going to get him anywhere. Not that he had anywhere in particular that he should be headed or anything like that.

He decided that after tonight, he would try and head back the way he had come. He had marked several things to help him find his way and he assumed he would be able to find his way back home once he reached the woods, if he thought about the location of the mountains as opposed to that of Rivendell.

The sun was now setting and he deicided he needed some rest. He began scanning the rocks for small caves that he could take shelter in for the night. He would rather not get stuck out in the open in the middle of the night with only a hunting knife for protection.

Finally, he found the ideal location he had been seeking. There was a rather medium sized cave set in the rocks just up ahead. It would do perfectly for shelter during this night. He decided he would attempt to make a fire and cook some rabbit if he could find some.

He soon reached his place and began rubbing the rocks together, creating sparks and soon, one spark caught on the dry bush branches he had found and decided to use for a bit of fire wood. He then looked around for a nice juicy rabbit. He was quite a good thrower and knew that if he found a rabbit he could throw his hunting knife and kill the creature without any trouble.

After a while of sitting at the mouth of the cave, looking outward for any sign of a rabbit, he began to give up hope. But suddenly, he saw it. A slight ruffling in the bushes. He aimed at the bush expertly and waited for another rustle. When it came, he hurled the hunting knife at it and heard the satisfying "Thwump" of it connecting with flesh. He smiled triumphantly and retrieved his meal and his knife.

Soon, he had the rabbit skinned and prepared for eating. He put it on a improvised spit and waited for it to cook. He knew it might take a while so he sat against the wall humming quietly to himself as he waited for his delicious meal to finish cooking.

**Elvish Used in this Chapter:**

_Mellon-nin- _My Friend

**A/N: Hello all! I just wanted to put in here that Legolas left a few days before Estel did and so he should manage to enter the Mountain Pass about the same time Estel does. Make sense? Well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next shall probably be here soon.**


	3. Chapter Three: Goblins!

**A/N: Hello all! Here is the next chapter of An Interesting Beginning. Hope you enjoy. See first chapter for Disclaimer**!

_**Chapter Three: Goblins!**_

Legolas yawned slightly. It had been a rather hard day of travel. He had traveled much ground though, and knew he was about half way through the Mountain Pass and decided it was time to make camp.

He quickly dismounted and made his way to one of his favorite spots from all of his previous travels to Imladris. The Mountain Pass had few trees, but here was one of the few places that had some. The spot was hidden by an outcropping of rock, so any eyes that weren't particularly examining everything would easily miss it. The rocks definately provided adequate shelter from unwanted eyes. And the trees made sure he'd see danger before they saw him.

In the center of the spot there was a blackened and charred pit. As mentioned before, he had been to this place on more than one occasion, and his campfire ring still remained. He easily set a fire and pulled out his travel rations. Some nuts, dried fruit and dried meat. He heated what needed to be heated and started off eating when it was finished.

Upon completion of his evening meal, he climbed the nearest tree and rested upon one of the higher branches. The tree was by no means better than his bed at either Rivendell or Mirkwood but it was much better than sleeping on the ground, which is what he'd been doing the past few days.

It was when he was finally resting that he heard a shout for help in the elven tongue. A shout that sounded desperate and young. Legolas wasted no time at all, He jumped down, grabbed his weapons and went off in the direction of the shout.

Estel picked his teeth with his fingernail, attempting to get the rough meat out from between them. He then yawned. He had had a good meal compared to what he had been having lately. He had walked out of the cave and into the night to sit and look up at the stars. They were so peaceful. He wished that his brothers were here to look at the stars with him. He hated being alone.

The boy yawned tiredly after a while and went back into the cave with the intention of going to sleep. It took a lot to get himself comfortable, but eventually, he figured he wouldn't be able to get comfortable on the stone ground so he just gave up and forced himself to sleep anyway.

It was much later in the night when he heard a scratching sound that woke him from his uncomfortable slumber. He could hear strange voices as well, muttering in a tongue he didn't know, yet at the same time he hated. He sat up, his grey eyes bright with fright but also rather determined.

Estel took out his hunting knife and stood from the ground, moving deeper into the cave towards the scratching and the voices.

Suddenly, something jumped from the ceiling and landed right on top of him. The thing's face was so close to his own that he felt and could even smell it's disgusting breath. He struggeled to shove it off of him and finally figured to stab at it. He aimed for whatever he could and when he managed to actually get the creature, it shrieked and didn't die. It only got angrier and bit him.

Estel shrieked at the sudden pain and struggled even wilder than before, finally managing to shove off the creature and stab it when he came running at him again. He could hear more of them coming to their kin's aid.

'These must be Goblins!' he thought to himself as he plunged as fast as he could go towards the entrance of the cave. 'Finally!' he had managed to get to the entrance and he continued running, the goblins still givign chase. He was whimpering now in fright. So much for them finding him unworthy of their attention!

He continued on until suddenly his small foot hit an unexpected hole and gave a sudden CRACK! sound. 'That can't be good!' he thought to himself in the moment of numbness that followed his folly. Suddenly, a burst of pain flaired to life in his leg and he cried out in surprise as well as agony. He could still feel the injury on his shoulder too.

But the creatures were closing in on him. He had to move! He forced himself up and started limping further away until he saw a cliff. 'Oh NO!' He had nowhere to go. He turned, intending to face his fate bravely.

The onrush of goblins was too much for him, he knew, but he had to fight! He stood in the guard position and put his knife out in front of him. He knew he probably looked foolish, with tears streaming down his young face, blood flowing from his shoulder wound and his leg bent at an odd angle and not meant for beind stood on. But that didn't matter to him. He would fight no matter what! He wouldn't go down without taking at least a few goblins with him!

That was when the first of them came at him. He brought his knife up and slit it's throat, throwing it behind him and over the cliff before facing the next one. He aimed for this one's eye. It was dead soon too.

Then a whole bunch came at him.

He would have to pick one at a time. He went for the one on the left, killing it quickly with a flash of his knife and went for the one on his left. He didn't notice a third one until it was too late. Before he had even completely managed to defeat the goblin on the left, it was upon him it jumped on his chest and pushed him backwards.

Estel put his foot behind him to brace himself, only to discover that there was no ground! He felt himself falling, his eyes going wide with terror. 'This was not how I wanted to die!'

he thought as he fell through the air. But his arm acted without his consent suddenly and latched on to the edge of the cliff, holding himself up and away from the fifty foot drop below.

He clenched his eyes shut. 'Don't look down, don't look down!' he thought over and over again, as if just saying that would keep him up. That's when a pain suddenly went through his fingers and his injured shoulder. His silvery-grey eyes flew open and looked up to see the goblins jumping up and down on his feet. They weren't big creatures, so it didn't hurt as much as if an orc might have done it, but it did hurt enough so that he would probably let go if it kept up. He barely had a grip as it was.

His voice broke out then "HELP!" he cried out in elvish. He didn't know why he said it, It wasn't like there was anyone nearby or so he though. But it made him feel more secure so he continued. "Please! Oh Eru! Somebody save me!" he cried out, still in elvish. His voice sounded whiny to him, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that his call was heard.

And as if on cue, A volley of arrows was released from a tree. Well, not exactly a volley. But more than one arrow came flying into the eyes of the goblins above. That was when Estel looked down, his face tear-stained and his eyes frightful and hopeful at once.

Legolas had finally come upon the source of the call for help and found a child hanging on a cliff-edge for dear life. He assumed the child was an elf, seeing as though they weren't too far from Imladris and the inhabitants of Imladris were obviously elves.

So Legolas had shot at the goblins immediately without thought. He had to save the child.

That was when he saw the person look down. And he noted the ears. They were round. The boy was a human. For a brief moment, Legolas lowered his bow. Why should he save a human after what his kind had done to him? Why should he show compassion when his kind did not?

The boy then spoke once more, Still in elvish. "Please..." it was such a sad and quiet voice, that even Legolas had to struggle to hear it pefectly. The boy's young face turned to the ground once more and Legolas saw such a fear in the child's face. His eyes were wide and frightened, and his face was tear-stained. Something clicked in Legolas and all of his hesitancy disappeared at the helpless expression on the child's face.

He fired another volley of arrows at the goblins and after a while, the band of goblins was killed and he came from his hiding place in the bushes.

Suddenly, The boy's fingers slipped and he cried out as he began plummeting to the unforgiving ground and without thought, Legolas rushed forward and right before the boy hit the the rocks, he was in Legolas's arms and both stared at each other in amazement. As if neither could quite figure out how on Arda the child had ended up in the prince's arms.

Elladan and Elrohir had headed back home to tell their father about where they felt Estel had gone. They might need a rescue party, just in case he had ended up near Goblins or Orcs.

When they got what they needed, they went in the direction of the Mountain Pass. They had to save Estel. They both shuddered to think of what shape they may find their foster brother in. It would be horrible if he had been captured by Goblins or Orcs and..No. These thoughts would only make things more complicated.

All of the warriors the twins had gathered would have laughed at their Lord's sons, if it hadn't been for the fact that Estel was gone. They would probably get the chance to laugh about it later. But right now, the color of the twins' hair was of no importance. Right now they ahd to find the wayward eleven year old child.

Estel was just as surprised as Legoals was about being caught. He looked up at the prince for a while before Legolas set him down on the ground.

"_Pedich i lam edhellen_?" Legolas asked him now. He had heard him call out in elvish and wondered whether he could truly speak it or if those were mearely a few words he had learned just in case.

The boy nodded. Legolas didn't know if the boy truly understood or not. Nods were usually what humans used when they were in a lack for words. "_Heniach nin_?"

The boy nodded again. "_Henion_." he said. There.That was an improvement. "_Man le carel sí_?" he now asked "I'm lost." The boy said in elvish as an explanation. Legolas nodded. He had assumed as much. No human nor elf would be out here without a weapon intentionally. "_Anírach i dulu nín_?" he asked. He didn't want to leave the boy out here alone. "Yes, You're help would be very much appreciated!" The boy said with a relieved smile.

"_Aphado nin_!" Legolas said as he stood up then he looked at the boy. "_Man eneth lín_?" Legolas wanted to be polite. Though he hated humans, he didn't want this child to know that. "_Estel i eneth nín_." the boy responded.

Estel. Hope. "Your name means hope?" Legolas asked him quiziaclly in Westron. "Yes.That is what my name means." Estel's Common was heavily accented. As if he barely knew the language. How strange. Then something clicked. "Are you the human Lord Elrond took in?" Legolas asked, this time in elvish, his eyebrow raised in a question. Estel nodded. "I see. That is why you are closer to Rivendell than a human village. That's interesting. Well, stand up and we'll be on our way, then. " Legolas said, moving off in the direction of his camp. Estel didn't move.

"Didn't you hear me?" Legolas asked. He lost patience with humans easily. "I-I can't." Estel said quietly, looking down at the ground. This made Legolas even more annoyed."What do you mean you can't get up? First you say you want me to help you and yet you won't even get up!" Legolas said, completely content with leaving the child to die. If he wanted to stay here, then that was fine with him. "It's just..I can't get up because I broke my ankle running from the goblins." Estel admitted.

Legolas looked down and his expression lightened somewhat when he noticed that the boy spoke the truth. "Very well then. I suppose I will have to carry you then." Legolas said as he bent down, motioning for the boy to climb on. Estel wasted no time and clambered on to the elf's back. Legolas felt that Estel was quite light for a human. He began walking back to camp and when he got there, he felt the child's head resting on his shoulder. It seemed that Estel had fallen asleep. He set the child down at the base of the tree he had been perched in previously and began checking the boy over for other injuries.

He would have to bandage the wound on Estel's shoulder and he also knew he'd have to set the bone before it could heal properly. It would be painful. Now was the best time to do that since Estel was asleep and wouldn't feel the pain and so he got to one side of the sleeping child and put his hands in position on his leg.

"Estel, this is going to hurt, so I am going to do it now and get it over with." he muttered quietly to the child before jerking his hands in opposite directions, forcing the bone back in place. Estel cried out even in his sleep and althought Legolas despised humans, He felt bad for the child. He then splinted the leg to make sure it would stay the way it was supposed to. Then he leaned back beside the child. He remembered now that he had yet to tell the child his own name. That could wait though. Right now, he wanted to sleep. And with that thought, he leaned his head back against the tree and his eyes glazed over in elven slumber.

**Elvish used in this chapter:**

_Pedich i lam edhellen_?- Do you speak elvish?

_Heniach nin_?- Do you understand me?

_Henion_.- I understand.

_Man le carel sí_?- What are you doing here?

_Anírach i dulu nín_?- Do you want my help?

_Aphado nín_!- Follow me!

_Man eneth lín_?- What is your name?

_Estel i eneth nín_- My name is Estel (Hope)

**A/N: That's all for chapter three folks! Keep reading for me! **


	4. Chapter Four: Danger

**A/N:**** Wow…I haven't updated this story in forever! For those of you that still want to read it, I've decided to get back on track with this story…At least, I hope to remain on track this time. I'm sincerely trying, but I get bored easily and I want to move on to another story long before I finish one of them. Once again, I apologize. Now, Let's get this over with.**

**Disclaimer:**** See First chapter if you need to get the disclaimer.**

**Chapter Four**

When Legolas next awoke, it was to the sound of a child coughing. Confused by the sound, Legolas glanced to the side and saw little Estel, curled in on himself as if against the cold, his grey eyes staring off at the rising sun and his cheeks looking slightly flushed. Legolas then remembered the events of last night.

Seeing the flushed cheeks, the elf immediately assumed that the child had an infection. Legolas inwardly groaned; now he'd have to look after not just a human child, but a human child that was feverish due to infection.

Estel turned his steel gaze towards the elf and smiled wanly. "Hello. I appreciate the fact that you saved me back there…erm…" the boy was obviously trying to recall his name and Legolas obliged, "Legolas." was all he said.

Suddenly, Estel's eyes lit up and he looked more energized. Unsure of what had brought the sudden change to the boy, Legolas looked at him blankly. "You are Prince Legolas. You are El and Ro's friend, aren't you?" The human asked excitedly. Taken aback by the question, Legolas could do nothing more than nod.

"Oh, wow! I mean, I am sorry, Prince Legolas. It's just that I'm so surprised to finally meet you. El and Ro told me all sorts of things you three did together and I always wanted to meet you. You are somewhat of a legend!" Estel said smiling brightly but suddenly a fit of coughing stole the boy's youthful enthusiasm and sent him into a groan of pain as the coughing motion sent his leg and shoulder ablaze with pain.

Legolas went over to his things and pulled out some mix and immediately made a liquid and handed it over to the still coughing human. "Here. Drink this. It will make you feel better." Legolas said as he stood up and stretched. If he wanted to get to Rivendell on time, and with the injured boy in tow, he'd have to move swiftly.

As soon as Estel's coughing fit died down, Legolas reached down and helped him to his feet and soon the two were mounted on Lathril and prepared to ride the rest of the way to Rivendell.

After a while of riding in silence, Estel decided to speak. "Prince Legolas--"

"Legolas." the elf corrected and Estel nodded before continuing, "Legolas, why did you save me back there? Ada said you did not like humans." Estel said. Legolas's eyes narrowed, "Would you rather I left you back there with the goblins?" he said dangerously.

"No, no!" Estel quickly added, "I just thought that you yourself rather would not want to save me, not that I was not grateful to you!" the boy finished.

Legolas sighed. "I do not like humans, it is true. But I also cannot leave a child to die when it is within my abilities to save him." Legolas explained, wanting for the conversation to be over. "Oh…I see. Well, Thank you, Legolas for saving me from certain death." Estel said, and he meant it.

"However, do not take my saving you and the subsequent treating of your wounds as friendship. It will be long indeed before I can come to forgive humans for their greed and evil ways, and it will be long after you have died, human." Legolas said darkly.

Estel gulped audibly and his skin paled. Even though he knew Legolas would not kill him, he did not want the elf to get too upset with him; He was scary enough without that.

The two continued riding in silence, Estel often tried to start up a conversation but the elven prince was very reluctant and soon, the boy gave up his efforts and the silence continued.

This did not last too long, for soon there were rustling sounds coming from their left. Quickly, Legolas jumped off of Lathril and sent her off with Estel still sitting upon her back.

"Hey! Legolas! What are you doing?" Estel cried briefly before Lathril carried him away further from the elf.

Legolas paid no heed to the child's questions and instead gave his attention to the sounds he heard previously. They were loud, and they seemed to be rather heavy footsteps; Most likely wargs. He groaned inwardly at the prospect of having to face them. At least Estel wouldn't be here to interfere in his fighting.

Just then, a growl and a crash came from behind him and Legolas turned to face the first of the wargs in the battle. It didn't take long for the skilled elven prince to stick his daggers into the throat of the warg, but just as the huge creature fell, two more broke from the bushes, one directly in front of him the other on his right.

It took longer but he managed to kill another by stabbing it in the eye before turning to the other, but even as he prepared to fight him, more of the beasts entered the clearing and Legolas found himself all but completely surrounded.

The wargs charged him and he spun around slashing one in the side and the other across the nose before ducking as one of them jumped for his head with the intent of ripping it from his shoulders. As it soared above him, Legolas rose and shoved one of his daggers into its belly and then the momentum of the dying creature took it over him and into one of its brethren, knocking it down. That put two out of commission for the time being, at least, but Legolas had much more work to do before he could consider himself the victor of the battle.

This was proven as another warg, this one slightly larger than the others rushed at him. Legolas managed to dodge to the side, but just barely and one of the claws caught him in the side. The prince cried out ever so slightly, but quickly pulled himself together enough to force his adversary away from him with his daggers. Now injured, Legolas had to work much harder to defeat the wargs, but he managed to kill three more before the injury truly took affect. There were only two left now and one was still trapped underneath its dead sibling. The only other one was the large warg that had injured Legolas in the first place. The blood loss was making Legolas dizzy and he was sure that he would lose consciousness if the battle did not end quickly.

The large warg made for Legolas at a bound, baring its teeth dangerously and attempting to end the battle quickly as well. It had noted that many of its pack-mates were dead and did not want to be the next to fall victim to this creature. Legolas tried to dodge, but the blood loss coupled with his weariness made this all but impossible and the warg was on top of him, its stinking breath nearly causing Legolas to choke. It took all of Legolas's strength to keep the wargs teeth away from his throat, let alone get the creature off of him. Not to mention, its claws were digging into the wound that had already been made before this and the other warg was almost free.

As the smaller warg gained its feet, Legolas felt for sure he was going to die and so, with strength borne of sheer desperation, he managed to extricate himself from the grips of the warg, but not without a price. He shoved his arm into the mouth of the warg that was attempting to rip into his throat and with his other arm, he pushed the warg off. The large warg tried to keep the arm in his grip and so, when Legolas pushed, it's teeth dug deep into Legolas's arm, causing excruciating pain. The elf cried out at the onslaught before pulling his knife out and finally killing the large warg.

Legolas didn't have time to feel relieved, however, because the smaller warg was upon him instantly. So, Legolas pulled the same knife out of the large warg and turned its blade on the smaller one, stabbing it in the roof of the mouth and into the brain, killing it. Finally, the battle was over. The weary elven prince made his way over to a tree and slumped down in front of it, his strength spent and his eyes swiftly closing. He gave a passing thought to Estel, but that was all he had and consciousness left him.

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Estel sat shivering next to Lathril. He had painfully climbed off of the mare when she'd stopped. Legolas had yet to return, which worried Estel. He had vowed that if Legolas didn't return in a few hours he would go after the prince, even though he wouldn't be of much service in the event of a battle that Legolas was having problems with.

The young boy wanted nothing more than to pull the blankets out of Lathril's saddle bags and curl up for a night of rest but he was worried. It would be entirely his fault if Legolas were in any danger. Had it not been for the fact that the prince had stopped to help him, chances were he would have passed here before any danger had been close.

So, Estel just got the blankets out of the bag and sat, waiting, listening. Hoping that the elf who saved him would not come to any harm. After a while, he dozed off into an uneasy slumber, filled with nightmares.

Less than three hours after he dozed off, Estel opened his eyes again and looked about him. It took him a while to remember what had happened and when he did, he groaned and attempted to haul himself painfully to his feet. His ankle, though set, was still rather painful and he knew that he probably shouldn't be putting too much weight on it

Lathril was close by and so Estel went over to her and petted her. He whispered a few words of elvish into her ears and she kneeled down so that mounting her would be easier for the child. Before long, he'd steered the horse in the direction from whence they came, hoping beyond hope that it was not a dead elf he sought to find this night.

The fact that the horse had let Estel upon her back was quite amazing in itself, but apparently the child had a way about him that made the horse feel comfortable. Usually, Elven horses would not allow any riders but those that it had formed a bond with upon its back. Maybe the horse understood that its master needed help and was willing to bear even a human child upon its back in the event that the master could be found and tended to.

It took some time but finally Lathril brought Estel to the clearing where Legolas had last been seen, and surely enough the prince was still there; However, he lay up against a tree, unmoving. Estel gulped and all but jumped off of the horse in his haste to help the prone elf, aggravating his injured ankle and sending waves of pain up his leg. But Estel paid it no heed as he kneeled down next to Legolas and pulled the prince's head into his lap.

"Legolas…Open your eyes. Come to the light," the child pleaded with the unconscious prince in elvish.

When Legolas made no show of having heard anything the boy said, Estel started to panic; He was just a child, how could he be of help to this elf? He didn't know anything about healing, really, and here he was, holding an injured elf in his lap.

With this sad thought in his mind, Estel couldn't help it; He began to cry. This elf had risked his life to save him, and now he was hurt and the only person around was a scared little boy and a horse. For all he was worth, Estel cried out his grief and wished for somebody, anybody to come and help him and Prince Legolas.

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The search party had begun to give up any hopes of finding the human son of Lord Elrond alive. Even then, Elladan and Elrohir continued their frantic efforts. They had found evidence of a camp in a Goblin cave and now sat looking for clues as to where the human occupant had disappeared to.

"Elladan! Come quickly! I think I have found something!" Elrohir cried out from where he kneeled just outside the cave. What he had found was not promising; He'd found traces of a battle. The problem with Goblin fights is that the Goblins took their dead away to eat them before they could be found, which made it harder to figure out that a battle had even taken place.

Elladan walked over and stood next to his kneeling twin, glancing about and seeing other proof of battle; indents on the ground evidencing a place where a body had lain, broken arrows lying about and there the tiniest bit of blood, which could have belonged to anyone.

"Elrohir, we have to find him. What if this blood is his?" Elladan said, his voice showing a deep panic and fear for his younger brother. Elrohir nodded.

"What if he didn't make it, 'Dan? Mayhap we go to bury our little brother this night." Elrohir said quietly. Elladan glanced quickly at his twin, who only shrugged; one must prepare himself for the worst case scenarios.

"How could you say that? This is our little brother we're talking about! He is not dead, Elrohir. I know it." Elladan near shouted. Elrohir stood and placed a hand on Elladan's shoulder.

"I hope you're right, _Gwanur_. I hope you're right (_Gwanur: (twin) brother_)." Elrohir replied and continued his observation of the battleground.

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Estel began pulling himself together after a while of weeping; He knew that his whining wasn't going to save the Prince. Something in the back of his mind told him to buck up and do what he could, which was, admittedly, not much.

But one thing he did know was that he should stop the bleeding and bind the wounds. Wiping his face, Estel gently set Legolas fully on the ground and went over to Lathril, examining her saddle bags for healing items; they were there.

The human pulled out bandages, rolls and rolls of them. And then he found a salve that had a small description in elvish; apparently, the salve would help prevent infection. Having grown up in Lord Elrond's household, Estel could at least bind a wound and rub salve into them. He just hoped he would not hurt Legolas too much. Mayhap the fact that the Sindarin elf was unconscious would prevent him from feeling it.

Estel limped back towards the elf and began working; He worked the salve into the side wound first, which was difficult to do around the clothes. Of course, the boy knew that if he could get the shirt off then it would be much, much easier but the boy was not strong enough to put the elf in the proper position for that, for all the elf was incredibly light. Then, once that was finished (much of the salve ended up on the shirt more than the wound, but Estel supposed that would do), Estel pulled Legolas's sleeve up and rubbed the salve into the wound on his arm, which was a lot easier.

All the salve having been applied, Estel began wrapping the bandages around Legolas's middle, shirt and all. The work was sloppy and Estel was sure he would get scolded at by his father, but given the circumstances, Estel thought he did rather well before applying bandages to Legolas's arm. Blood was going to start soaking through the bandage soon, but hopefully Estel had bought a few hours. Now he only had to be found. There was no way he would be able to keep Legolas and himself alive much longer.

To pass time, Estel sifted through Lathril's saddlebags some more and found flint and kindle for a fire. This gave Estel a plan; He would build a fire. Maybe he was close enough to Rivendell, or a search party, that his fire would be seen so that someone could come to his aid. Once the fire was done, Estel put a pillow under Legolas's head, placed a blanket on top of the elf, and then grabbed a blanket for himself and curled up next to the elf. After all, there was nothing else to be done but to sleep.

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	5. Chapter Five: Found

**A/N: See! I told you I was going to get back on track! All you have to do is be patient with me. And at least my story isn't very long so that one does not have too much to re-read when one forgets what happened, it being such a long wait and all. I really do apologize for my updates, or lack thereof. Anyways, On with the Chapter! (This one should be shorter than the others).**

**Disclaimer: Disclaimer in first chapter.**

**Chapter Five: Found**

Elladan, Elrohir and the search party had found a trail. It wasn't much, but it was something that just might lead to their human brother. Evidence showed that whoever it was, was on a horse. This made the twins doubt it was their brother, but mayhap the rider of the horse had found their brother and was taking care of him. At least, that was their hope anyhow. And if the rider hadn't saved their brother, maybe the rider would be able to tell them something about where to find the young human.

The party was making great time, stopping to rest only a few times. The sun was setting and they could see smoke rising in the distance; A fire. It was rather early for a fire, which made all of the elves in the search party suspicious. Why would someone set a fire so early? And thus, the search party increased their pace.

They were almost to the fire when something foul hit their noses. Something, or many somethings, had died recently. By the stench, the elves knew that it must have happened a few hours ago, at least. Perhaps they were at the end of their search? As they neared the fire, the twins and the other elves began to get excited. But when they reached their destination, all they found were several dead Wargs and a small pile of embers smoking in the center of the clearing.

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Legolas had awakened to the knowledge that something was not right. He felt achy all over, but he could not remember why that was. He could feel something warm beside him. When he reached out to touch whatever it was, so that he could figure out its identity, a burst of pain surged throughout his arm and brought reality crushing down; The Wargs.

With a burst of reality, Legolas jolted up, ignoring all the pain that occurred and looking for his enemies; they were all dead around them. The smell was awful. The Prince looked down and saw Estel sitting up. Apparently, Legolas jumping up had awakened the young boy.

Estel yawned and cocked one eye open and said "Lord Glorfindel? I had a bad dream…I was--" he began sleepily when he first saw Legolas, but then reality hit the boy as it had Legolas.

"Legolas!" the boy shouted, quickly getting to his feet and nearly falling over. "You shouldn't be up. Even elves need to rest when they're injured!" he scolded.

Legolas looked quizzically at Estel then glanced at the poor bandaging that the boy had done, then he felt the full onslaught of his injuries. Dizziness nearly brought the prince to his knees, but he managed to catch himself by holding onto Lathril's bridle. The sudden grip nearly caused Lathril to panic, but as soon as she realized it was only her Master, she held still and nuzzled his face a bit.

"Come, human. Let us leave this Eru-forsaken battleground and continue on our way." Legolas managed around the pain before he pulled himself slowly onto Lathril's back and reached down with his good arm to help Estel up.

Estel warily took the proffered hand and tried his best to make this as painless for Legolas as he could. Even so, Legolas still winced, but kept from making a sound. Estel couldn't believe the Prince could keep his composure under such an exposure to pain.

As soon as Estel was on the horse, Legolas clicked his teeth and urged the mount to a trot, heading towards Rivendell. If all went well, they would reach the Haven by about midday tomorrow. Of course, it would have taken a lot less time had Legolas not been forced to save a blundering human from certain death and then gotten attacked by Wargs and set back another day.

To Legolas's utmost surprise, Estel didn't even attempt to make conversation. Every time the horse moved forward, the riders felt pain all throughout their bodies. Both of them wanted to just fall down and go to sleep. They were injured, hungry and bone-weary and yet they still kept on until the middle of the evening, when neither could go on any longer.

Legolas stopped Lathril then crawled off her back, Estel following. His dismounting was a lot less graceful and indeed, the boy nearly toppled over and would have, had Legolas not grabbed the child by the arm and held him up. Luckily, it had been with his good arm that Legolas had grabbed the boy. Almost at once, the two collapsed onto the ground and barely had they eaten a little lembas and pulled out their blankets than Estel had fallen asleep. Legolas stayed up, wanting to keep watch. He feared that he and Estel would not have the energy to make their journey tomorrow. In that event, he hoped that someone would be on their way.

As the prince surveyed his sleeping companion, he thought about what they had been through. He wondered why the boy had tried to heal him, when obviously the elf did not like him. Or more, why had the boy come after him at all? Surely Estel could find his way home from here, and Lathril would have been able to carry the boy the rest of the distance so that it would not have been so trying on the boy's injuries. Despite Legolas's hatred of humans, he had to admit that he owed his life to Estel, even if it had been because of Estel his life had been in danger to begin with.

Legolas's conscience told him he need not be so hard on the boy. It was true that humans had killed his mother, but that had been centuries before the child had even been born. And obviously the boy was more like an elf than a human anyways. The only difference, really, was the boy's mortality and his ears. Lord Elrond had been able to take the boy in and raise him, and the elves in Rivendell had come to accept him as well. Maybe it was time that he forgive Estel for the fact that he'd been born a human. After all, it wasn't the boy's fault that he had been born. All this thinking had given Legolas a headache. He wanted to go to sleep. He would think more about it once he got to safety in the morning.

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It was nearing midnight when Elladan and Elrohir, along with their search party, found Estel and Legolas. The discovery had been so unexpected that Elladan had stopped dead in his tracks, and for all Elrohir's grace and dignity, the younger twin ran right into him They had stared for a while, taking in the sight. It was unreal: Prince Legolas, renowned for his hatred of humans, lay next to their baby brother, and by the looks of things, both were injured pretty badly.

When Elladan stepped nearer, Legolas jumped awake and quickly pulled out one of his daggers, nearly cutting Elladan's leg off. "Whoa! Legolas! It's us!" Elladan cried quickly. Legolas woke up fully when he saw them, their hair bright and quite conspicuous even in the light of the dying fire. "Elladan? Elrohir?" the prince muttered, rubbing his eyes and staring. "Eru, what happened to you two?"

The twins couldn't help it; they laughed. "You should ask that little devil beside you, Dear Legolas." Elrohir said as his twin rushed over to Estel, who had sat up and was rubbing his eyes, having been woken up by the laughing. The boy's eyes widened when he saw just who had stumbled upon them. "El!? Ro!?" Estel all but shrieked, reaching up his arms and grabbing hold of his brother's neck. Elladan pulled him into his arms and gave him a hug, relieved to find the boy alive.

When Elladan had finished his hug, he passed Estel to Elrohir, who hugged him as well and then set him down. The two began examining their friend and brother.

"I let you out of our site, and immediately you go and get hurt. Eru, Estel, You're lucky to be alive and with only a broken ankle and a shoulder wound to show for your battle with the Goblins." Elladan groused as he checked the boy's injuries. He noticed the infection, but apparently, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Meanwhile, Elrohir was examining Legolas's injuries.

"What in Arda is this? Bandaging?" Elrohir asked as he examined Estel's rather poor attempt at binding a wound. Estel looked sheepishly to the side and Elrohir laughed before he began unwrapping the bandaging; the blood had begun to seep out of the bandage some time ago and Legolas had to get a new bandage soon. Elrohir let out a low whistle when he took in the injuries that the bandaging had concealed.

"That looks painful, Legolas. Were you the one who killed all of those Wargs we saw?" Elrohir asked. Legolas nodded and hissed as Elrohir probed around the wound. "This will be tender for a while. Ada will have to get you something to help with the pain." Elrohir then looked up at the sky. It was rather late.

"Elrohir, do you think we should set up camp? I think we can rest now that we found our dear friend and brother alive." Elladan stated as he put a blanket around Estel's shoulders. As the boy relaxed, Elladan looked down at him. "And don't think that you'll get away with your little prank just because you got into trouble running from us." Elladan said in a mock dangerous voice. Estel just smiled before burying his head in Elladan's tunic and falling asleep. The rest of the elves began setting up camp around them, getting comfortable. Elrohir finished treating Legolas's wounds and then they all gathered around the fire, Estel sleeping in Elladan's lap, and Legolas and Elrohir sitting next to each other on the other side of the fire.

They shared a moment of silence. Elrohir was the one to break it by saying, "So, Legolas. What's happened? One day we're telling Estel to be careful around you because you hate humans, the next we find you and Estel sleeping beside each other, injured, but alive."

Legolas tossed a stick in the fire before glancing at Estel. "I don't know. Mayhap I don't hate humans as much as I thought. Or maybe it's because the boy is more elf than human, but I find myself not hating him as much as I feel I should." Legolas stated. "In any case, I'm glad to see you two. It's been ages."

The twins recognized the subject change, but allowed it. Legolas needed to sort out his feelings about humans by himself. "We're glad to see you, too, Legolas. We've missed your overbearing company." Elladan stated.

Legolas laughed. "Overbearing? You know, I could take that as an insult. If any of us is overbearing, it is you, El. You're like a mother hen."

"My dear friend, you seem to forget what happened the last time we all went on a hunting trip," Elrohir said, "If I recall correctly, Elladan had been bitten by a snake and you were worrying over him, when it was not even poisonous."

"I was not worrying over him! Besides, for all I knew, it very well could have been poisonous. " Legolas protested and all three of them laughed softly, trying not to wake the sleeping human. To be here, to know you were going to be safe, was a great feeling. Legolas couldn't believe how lucky he and Estel had been that Elladan and Elrohir had arrived when they did. It had been quite a shock, but a pleasant one. Honestly, to wake to the site of the twins with the brightest and strangest colored hair had almost been worth the pain. Almost.

After a few hours of talking and catching up with each other, the twins and Legolas settled down for the night. Tomorrow, they would make the rest of the journey to Rivendell where Legolas and Estel could finally get the healing they needed and the rest of them could all get better sleep. Tomorrow would be a good day indeed.

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For the past few days, Elrond had been a wreck of himself. His human child was out there somewhere, perhaps dead and his other two sons were searching for him. What if something had happened to all of them? And where was Legolas? The prince was overdue for his visit. Elrond thought he would go insane with worry if he did not get word of at least one of these people he cared about. As he stood on his balcony, drinking a tea that was meant to reduce stress (a tea that was not working, as it were), Elrond wondered at all the possible things that could have befallen his children and their royal friend.

Suddenly, somebody came up beside him. Elrond glanced over and saw that it was Glorfindel. "Good morning, My Lord," the golden haired elf-lord said, "Anything new about Estel or the others?"

Elrond shook his head. "I'm afraid not, my friend. I fear the worst." Glorfindel placed a comforting hand on his lord's shoulder. "Keep on watching. I'm sure that any minute now, the search party will return with Estel, and maybe Prince Legolas as well." Glorfindel stated and turned to glance on the horizon.

Elrond was about to reply to this when he saw them; the search party was riding in. Without another word, Elrond placed his tea on a table and rushed out of the room, Glorfindel at his side. The two quickly made their way to the outer walls of The Last Homely House and stood watching, waiting. It was impossible to tell from this distance whether Estel or Legolas were with them or not, but Elladan and Elrohir were in the front, made obvious by their radically colored hair. When Elrond saw their faces, he knew that good news was on its way.

Breaking from the crowd, Estel sort of limped-ran to his Ada, crying out to him. Elrond moved forward and scooped his human son into his arms, tears of joy creeping down the sides of his face. Elladan, Elrohir and Legolas stepped forward, all smiling. Elrond could tell that Estel and Legolas were injured and after giving his greetings he scolded them both and led them to the Healing rooms; Thank Eru, his boys were home.

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**A/N: There will be one more chapter that tells of Legolas's feelings as far as his hatred of humans goes. After that this will be the first fan fiction I have finished on here!!!**


	6. Chapter Six: Home Again

**A/N: The Final Chapter!!!! YAY! It will be REALLY short, because, really, there isn't much else I can think to write, but enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: See first chapter.**

**Chapter Five: Home Again**

It had been a week since Legolas and Estel had come back to Rivendell injured but alive. The two had recovered a lot since then and were even attending the night time feasts in the Hall of Fire. Several people asked them about their journey, but both didn't really care to talk about it. For Estel, it had been his first run in with something truly dangerous, and for Legolas, it had been the first time that he had to confront his feelings towards humans.

As a matter of fact, Legolas just could not make up his mind about where he stood on the issue; He still hated humans for what they did to his mother, and yet, each day he spent with Elladan, Elrohir and Estel, the more the boy began to grow on him. The child was bright and he had a sense of humor, just like his brothers. The entire family, and indeed, the entirety of Rivendell loved the boy. Not to mention, the boy had saved his life. He knew he owed Estel at least a thank you, but every time he wanted to say something, he just couldn't.

One day, Estel walked up to him in the Hall of Fire. The boy was dressed in his finest and had a smile on his face as he approached. "Legolas! The twins tell me you have an amazing prank that is legendary in these parts, but they won't tell me more about it. They keep on telling me to ask you about it." Estel asked. Legolas sent a slight glare towards the twins; obviously, they just wanted him to sort things out with Estel. With a sigh, Legolas did the only thing he could do to show just where he stood without outright voicing his opinion; He smiled and pulled the boy next to him on the nearest couch and computationally told him about what he had done a few _yen__í_back.

He knew that he could never, ever, forgive humans for their hand in his mother's murder, but he could forgive this human for having been born what he was. He could become friends with this child, who had been raised as an elf. He could think of a wonderful prank he and Estel could pull when the twins least expected it.

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The twins watched as Legolas sat down and talked to Estel about the prank. They smirked at each other and watched as a new friendship budded right before their eyes. Knowing that they had played some role in this made both feel almost as accomplished as a good prank did; almost.

As the two continued their talk, Elladan made a signal with his fingers to an elf with a tray across the room. The elf nodded and began walking towards Estel and Legolas. When the elf kneeled down and asked what the two wanted, both looked intently at the tray and as they did, the elf seemed to trip and the food slammed into the human's and the prince's faces.

Both cried out in alarm and stood to go and wash up. When they nearly reached the washing rooms, Elrohir signaled at another elf and the elf set a foot in front of Legolas. Legolas, busy pulling food out of his hair did not see the foot and tripped over it. To keep his balance, Legolas grabbed Estel and pulled the human down with him. Then the two scrambled to get back up and rushed to the washrooms where a nasty surprise awaited them.

They turned on the water and began washing themselves with it. When they looked up at the mirror, they realized that every thing that had been touched by the water (I.e. their entire faces and their hands) had turned a bright shade of orange. On the mirror was written one message: "Never prank the prank masters."

In the Hall of Fire, two twin elves laughed harder than they'd laughed in weeks. It was good to be home again.

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A/N: Thanks to all the readers who stuck with me while I took forever to write this story. I hope you enjoyed reading it and maybe this will inspire me to finish more stuff in the future, eh?


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